
K. e. srabury 



Royal 
Auction 



Suggestions on the Game 



By 

K. E. Seabury 



"We must speak by the card — a kind of 
excellent dumb discourse." — Shakespeare. 



COPYRIGHT 1912 BY 
K. E. SEABURY 



GRAFTON PUBLISHING COMPANY 
PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS 
LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA 



^CU320360 





Spades 




oo 


o 

T— 1 




oo 


o 

CN| 


Ciubs 

_ ...... 




CM 


O 

CO 


oo 


to 


o 

sO 


Dia- 
monds 


T— 1 


oo 


CO 


sO 


CO 
sO 


o 

c-> 


Hearts 


sO 


CO 


o 


sO 


CNJ 


o 

oo 


Royal 
Spades 


OO 


sO 
CO 






i— 1 

OO 


o 


No 
Trump 


o 

CO 


o 




o 
o 

T-H 






Three Honors 


Four Honors 


Five Honors 


Four in one hand 


Four in one hand 
& Fifth in partners 


Five in one hand 





Royal Auction 



In keeping with the spirit of mod- 
ern times, progress and development 
confront the card player of today. 

The card world watched with in- 
terest the early inauguration of whist 
in the first half of the eighteenth 
century and its continued popularity 
for many years, until it was virtually 
supplanted in this country by dupli- 
cate whist. We are all familiar with 
the wave of Bridge enthusiasm that 
swept this country from end to end, 
and have seen Bridge in turn sup- 
planted by Auction, and now, after 
a brief supremacy in the world of 
cards, Auction finds itself entirely 



Ten 



superceded by the newer, faster and 
more interesting game called Royal 
Auction. 

The game of Royal Auction is 
played with the same rules and laws 
as Auction, and, at the first impres- 
sion, the only difference between the 
two games seems to be in the count. 

In Royal Auction, spades, or the 
" Poverty Bid," count 2, clubs 6, 
diamonds 7, hearts 8, Royal spades 
(by some people rather frivolousty 
termed " lilies") 9, and no-trumps 
10. But on closer investigation one 
finds the different count affects the 
bidding and the score very mate- 
rially. It is on account of this fact 
that these few suggestions are 
written. 

Because the suits are nearer in 
value every hand is better balanced, 



Eleven 



and no one suit is any longer tremen- 
dously more valuable than another. 
A black hand which has hitherto 
been abhorred may now be much 
more valuable than a red hand, and 
red hands, due to the increased value 
of diamonds, are more valuable than 
they were in Auction. 

So Royal Auction demonstrates its 
superiority over Auction in that it 
eliminates much of the luck that 
came with the red and no-trump 
hands, and, by making all suits 
nearer in value, develops greater 
skill in bidding, in the power of 
inference and deduction, and in the 
ability to get the most out of twenty- 
six cards instead of thirteen. Thus 
the true value of every hand is more 
easily attainable, due to the wider 
scope in bidding, and a bid of two on 



Twelve 



anything overbids a bid of one on 
anything, which is surely more fair 
than the count in Auction that allows 
a bid of one no-trump to outrank a 
bid of two clubs. Another result of 
the new count is that the scores are 
better balanced and much more even, 
and, in consequence, the games are 
faster and more exciting. 

The reason for making the " Pov- 
erty Bid," or one spade, remains the 
same in Royal Auction as in Auc- 
tion. This bid is made when there 
is not a trick in the hand, or where 
it contains no other prescribed bid, 
though possibly holding substantial 
strength but not sufficient to justify 
another bid. 

The bid of two spades should be 
made as in Auction to indicate rea- 
sonable support for a no-trump make 



Thirteen 



by partner, with the modification, 
however, that the partner should not 
expect sufficient strength in spades 
to justify a bid of royal spades, for 
obviously if this strength existed the 
declarant would have declared royals 
and not two spades. But on a bid of 
two spader in Royal Auction, part- 
ner should be able to rely on the 
declarant for protection in the club 
suit sufficient to prevent its estab- 
lishment by an adversary with or 
without protection in spades, as 
clubs being now the cheapest suit 
may not be disclosed by an adverse 
declaration. 

The bid of one club in Royal Auc- 
tion now becomes the equivalent of 
the old diamond bid at Auction. It 
ma}^ be remembered that the old dia- 
mond bid was generally a tacit invita- 



Fourteen 



tion for a no-trump declaration by 
partner, from which it follows that 
the bid of one club in Royal Auction, 
should, like the old diamond bid, cer- 
tainly indicate strength in the club 
suit, as distinguished from length. 
Don't make the mistake of bidding 
one club in Royal Auction with six, 
seven or even eight clubs to one 
honor, without side support. This is 
an unsuccessful hand unless partner 
has a no trump. But if partner bids 
one no-trump the bid should be 
taken away from him and made two 
clubs, from which it follows that a bid 
of one spade and not one club should 
have been made on the hand origin- 
ally. 

One club should be bid irrespective 
of the score with the usual amount of 
trump strength that would justify 



Fifteen - 



any expensive trump declaration, 
namely, with not less strength than 
four trumps to three honors, with 
two outside tricks or five trumps to 
two honors and one outside trick or 
better. But bear in mind the honors 
should not be lower than King-Jack. 

When only six points or less are 
needed to win the game a bid of two 
or more clubs should indicate a 
strong desire to play the hand at a 
club, and should deter rather than 
induce partner to change the bid 
to any other make. A voluntary 
two-club bid may be made to in- 
dicate a perfect willingness to play 
the hand at clubs, or its adaptabil- 
ity for use as a no-trumper, as, 
for example, when declarant holds 
six to three honors without side sup- 
port. A voluntary bid of three clubs 



Sixteen 



indicates the ability to win the game 
at a club declaration and that it 
should be much safer to play it as a 
club than as a possible no-trumper. 

To summarize, the bid of one club 
is a tacit and natural invitation for 
a no-trumper. A voluntary, as dis- 
tinguished from a forced, two club bid 
indicates greater strength than a one 
club bid and is an affirmative declar- 
ation of willingness to have the bid 
converted into a no-trump, whereas 
a voluntary bid of three clubs indi- 
cates an imperative necessity to play 
the hand at a club and a consequent 
desire not to have the bid changed. 

The minimum strength required 
to justify a club bid must be present 
to support a bid of one diamond, one 
heart or one royal spade. It requires 
five diamond odd tricks to make 



Seventeen 



game in Royal Auction as in Auc- 
tion, which still makes the bid of one 
diamond an encouragement to part- 
ner to change the bid to no-trump, 
for the purpose of more surely win- 
ning game. 

The bids of one heart, one royal, 
and one no-trump are now in a class 
by themselves, because they afford 
the best opportunity to achieve game 
in a single hand, or at least to ad- 
vance the declarant's score to a point 
from which the game may be more 
easily attained. This should be the 
object of every aggressive bid, and 
this is more true of Royal Auction 
than of Auction or Bridge, for Royal 
Auction is the fastest game of all and 
most rubbers are won upon expensive 
declarations. 

A one heart bid, or a bid of one 



Eighteen 



royal should not induce partner to 
change the bid to a no-trump, because 
only four tricks in either hearts or 
royals are necessary to make game 
as a gainst three no-trump tricks, and 
it is an axiom that has applied with 
equal force to Bridge and Auction 
that a strong heart is preferable to a 
doubtful no-trumper, and this of 
course applies with equal force to a 
declaration of royals in preference to 
a no-trumper. Better throw one's 
strength into making an extra trick 
or tricks in the suit declared than to 
change the bid to one in which one's 
partner may be unable to render as- 
sistance. 

The new element of the royal 
spades is the most fascinating part of 
the new game. How many hands 
have been wasted in Auction when 



Nineteen 



filled with six or seven black spades, 
and how many no-trump hands have 
been wrecked in Auction by one's not 
knowing where the spade strength 
lay, it being too valueless to be 
declared! 

Royal spades now become the most 
desirable declaration, and the rules 
already laid down for the aggressive 
trump makes should be carefully 
observed. 

Bid a heart or a royal with five to 
two honors and one outside trick, or 
four to three honors and two outside 
tricks. Do not, as remarked before, 
bid on six to one honor as such a bid 
gives dangerous misinformation to 
partner which may result in a disas- 
trous double or an expensive no- 
trump declaration by partner solely 



Twenty 



attributable to the incorrect bid on 
the long weak suit. 

Substantially the same rules in 
Auction for the no-trump declaration 
may be followed in Royal Auction, 
but the declaration is made much 
less frequently and often less suc- 
cessfully, because there are two 
expensive trump bids instead of the 
one in Auction, and because the 
affirmative bids of clubs and royals 
supply the information that could 
only be negatively inferred in the 
older game. Black strength, while 
still desirable in Royal Auction to 
support a no-trump bid, is not as es- 
sential as it was in Auction. The 
fact that the declarant's opponent 
could over bid a no-trump with a dec- 
laration of two royals creates the neg- 
ative inference that when two royals 



Twenty-one 



are not so bid, the royal strength if 
anywhere is with partner. But this 
inference is always subject to the pos- 
sibility that due to the conditions of 
the score the opponent may prefer 
to defeat the declarant's no-trump 
contract by bringing in the entire 
spade suit, than to overbid the no- 
trump declaration with a declaration 
of two royals. 

On the whole, the no-trump dec- 
laration of Royal Auction is not so 
recklessly used, nor is it so frequently 
the ultimate declaration. 

From a practical point of view ail 
inferences, except a few which may 
be rigidly drawn, are largely influ- 
enced if not controlled by the habits 
of thought and temperament of the 
players. Some players always declare 
some bid if possible, while the more 



Twenty-two 



experienced player will weigh care- 
fully the relative advantages of suc- 
cessfully over bidding his opponent, 
or of remaining silent and by so doing 
defeating the declaration made. 

One of the most difficult features 
of the game is to distinguish between 
natural and forced bids. An original 
bid should always be natural — that is, 
in substantial accord with rules al- 
ready discussed, although such a bid, 
as already indicated, is affected by 
the score. Other bids may be volun- 
tary or forced. When the rubber is 
in danger a persistent over-bid is apt 
to indicate, not so much a desire to 
play the hand at the increased dec- 
laration as a desperate effort to pre- 
vent the advanced opponent from 
winning the game. Such a bid, and 
bids made under similar circum- 



Twenty-three 



stances, are regarded as forced or in- 
voluntary and should only be in- 
creased still further by partner with 
the greatest caution. So, also, if 
one 's partner bids one no-trump when 
one has a worthless hand, except for 
a long weak suit to a single honor, 
it becomes one's duty to take his part- 
ner out of his bid by declaring two of 
the long weak trump suit. To illus- 
trate, if one's hand consists of six 
diamonds to the King with no side 
support at all, the original bid is one 
spade. Thereafter if one's partner 
bids one no-trump it is imperative to 
change the bid to two diamonds, 
which will at once be recognized as a 
forced bid. 

When partner's bid of anything 
but a " Poverty Spade" has been 
overbid, one has to decide wisely and 



Twenty-four 



quickly whether to raise his part- 
ner's bid or declare another suit. 
The safest principle is not to change 
the suit, unless it is to change a bid 
of one club or one diamond to a 
no-trump. To increase partner's bid 
there must be at least two tricks in 
the hand, and these must be Aces or 
Kings. 

But the only differences between 
Auction and Royal Auction are not 
confined to bids or declarations. 

The rules for doubling are to some 
extent affected by the new count and 
the rules for the original lead or 
opening become somewhat changed. 

The chief point of difference so far 
as doubling is concerned is that if a 
double is made in Royal Auction 
the chance or opportunity for the 
person whose bid is doubled to escape 



Twenty-five 



from the double is enlarged and 
extended by the introduction of the 
bid of royal spades and the increase 
in the value of the bid of clubs and 
diamonds. 

It follows that in Royal Auction 
additional caution must be observed, 
for if a double is made simply because 
the declarant's contract may be de- 
feated (almost always a poor double) 
and without consideration of the 
important question, "If I double, can 
the declarant escape by means of 
another declaration?" the very pur- 
pose of the double is defeated because 
the declarant or his partner will 
promptly change the bid and thus 
prevent the defeat of the doubled 
contract. 

The new count also shows its influ- 
ence on the original lead. 



Twenty-six 



When no better opening at Auc- 
tion presented itself, in the absence 
of a positive showing of strength 
from partner, it was common prac- 
tice to lead a short black suit. 

This lead was made upon the the- 
ory that since partner had been un- 
able to make an aggressive declara- 
tion, such strength as his hand con- 
tained must be in the black suits. 

This lead was imperative and was 
called the " Spade Convention" when 
partner, who, as fourth player, had 
made no bid himself, doubled an 
original no-trump declaration. 

It corresponded to the u Heart 
Convention" in Bridge and now in 
Royal Auction, due to the increased 
value of the spade suit as royals, the 
" Spade Convention" must give place 
to the "Club Convention." 



Twenty-seven 



All of these Conventions are based 
entirely upon negative inference. 

The theory of the " Heart Conven- 
tion" at Bridge was that the declar- 
ant of no trumps would have declared 
hearts if he possessed great strength 
in that suit in preference to no 
trumps. Having declared no trumps, 
the declarant could not have great 
strength in hearts, and, therefore, 
upon partner's double, hearts became 
a logical lead, and the certainty to 
which the adoption of the Conven- 
tion gave rise, was of great value. 

In Auction, if partner doubled a 
no-trump bid, the double was ob- 
viously an announcement of strength 
in some suit. If the strength had 
existed in hearts or diamonds, in all 
probability the no-trump declaration 
would have been overbid, but when 



Twenty-eight 



not so overbid and when no suit had 
been disclosed by another declara- 
tion, the conclusion that the doubler's 
strength must lie concealed in a suit 
in which he could not disclose it by a 
bid, seemed most convincing. 

By a similar process of reasoning, 
the lead of a club becomes the logical 
lead at Royal Auction in response to 
partner's double of a no-trump dec- 
laration when partner has not dis- 
closed strength in another suit by a 
bid. 

If partner had strength in spades 
sufficient to raise them to the dignity 
of royals the no-trump would prob- 
ably be overbid, and if the hand con- 
tained bidding strength in hearts or 
diamonds such strength would also 
probably have resulted in an overbid 
of the no-trump declaration. 



Twenty-nine 



When the no-trump declaration is 
not overbid but is doubled without 
a showing of strength in royals, 
hearts or diamonds, such strength as 
the hand possesses clearly must be 
found in the club suit, and hence the 
"Club Convention" at Royal Auc- 
tion is found to rest upon the same 
sound and logical principles as its 
spade and heart predecessor. 

There is nothing that will so pro- 
mote and cultivate good play as a 
strict adherence to the laws and rules 
of the game. It is a great help to 
play a steady serious game to pay and 
exact the different penalties for the 
various offenses. How often at social 
games has one heard it said: "Oh! 
we don't pay penalties, we only 
play for fun, ' ' when one might as well 
say: "Oh! we don't follow suit, it 



Thirty 



is more fun to trump!" The penal- 
ties are as much a part of the game 
as following suit, and those childish 
minds which can only play half of a 
game at once should not attempt any- 
thing more difficult than ' ' Slap- J ack ' ' 
and "Old Maid." 

The code of laws usually followed 
in this country is that adopted by the 
New York Whist Club, copies of 
which may be found in any standard 
work on Auction, and a study of these 
laws and their application will surely 
benefit the players immeasurably and 
make their game more reliable, more 
scientific, and a great deal more en- 
joyable, all attributes worth striving 
for. 



/ 



